Morwell hears how we can make the switch

Clean Energy or Coal? Is the question being posed to residents of Victoria and the Brumby Government at a public meeting in Morwell on the evening of Wednesday, Sept 9, 2009.

Clean Energy or Coal? Is the question being posed to residents of Victoria and the Brumby Government at a public meeting in Morwell on the evening of Wednesday, Sept 9, 2009.

Gippsland Trade and Labour Council representative John Parker, Latrobe Valley resident Denise McKenna and renewable energy advocate Mark Ogge will join Damien Lawson, a representative of the switch off Hazelwood organising group, in a public meeting in Morwell, to talk about the transition options for the Latrobe Valley to switch away from coal.

Damien Lawson from the â€˜Switch off Hazelwood â€“ Switch on Renewablesâ€™ organising groups said "I grew up in Morwell and my family all worked in power generation. So I know the importance of the coal to the Valley, but there has to be a change."

"We now know that continuing to burn coal is incompatible with ensuring a safe society and a stable climate."

"Pursuing the clean coal pipe dream will just prevent us planning for a shift to new sustainable industry and employment in the Latrobe Valley. Itâ€™s time we all worked together to plan a just transition for workers in the power industry, the first step is a plan to close Hazelwood."

Who says it "can't be done"!

The Canadian province of Ontario said on Thursday it will permanently close four of its 15 coal-fueled power units by October 2010 and study whether it can convert the 11 remaining units to other fuels, such as renewable biomass.

The provincial government, which has pledged to eliminate coal-fired power generation by the end of 2014, said the four plants slated for closure represent about 2,000 MW of generation capacity.

Ontario is on track to be one of the first jurisdictions in the world to eliminate coal-fired electricity generation.

They're apparently shifting to gas as a bridging fuel to clean energy.

Friends of the Earth acknowledge that we meet and work on the land of the Wurundjeri people and that sovereignty of the land of the Kulin Nation were never ceded. We pay respect to their Elders, past and present, and acknowledge the pivotal role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the Australian community.